Africa, Civil Society, Combating Desertification and Drought, Development & Aid, Environment, Europe, Headlines

ETHIOPIA: A Leader Who Is Living History

Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN, Apr 3 2008 (IPS) - Ethiopia is better known for recurring droughts and famines, a protracted civil conflict, and a border war with Eritrea. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and a large percentage of the population lives in absolute poverty.

But there is of course more to this Eastern African state. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the world's oldest continuous civilisations dating back at least 2,000 years. It was one of the 51 original members of the United Nations.

Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa hosts the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and of the African Union – formerly the Organisation of African Unity, of which Ethiopia was the principal founder.

The country's present head is a man fondly known as Lieutenant Girma who has survived working under three opposing regimes.

Woldegiorgis Girma served as one of the first officers in the Ethiopian air force and as director-general of the civil aviation authority under Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled 1930-1974, except during five years of occupation by Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator during World War II. Also under the emperor, Girma became a Member of Parliament in 1961, and was elected president of the lower chamber for three years.

President Girma recalls that in this role, he helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), and attended IPU conferences in Switzerland, Denmark and former Yugoslavia. He was elected vice-president of the IPU's 52nd meeting.

Years later, the pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist provisional military government 'Derg' led by Mengistu Haile Mariam – that deposed Haile Selassie in 1974 – appointed Lt. Girma as the Deputy Commissioner of the Peace Programme for Eritrea. He also served as president of the Red Cross in Eritrea during the military regime.

Lt. Girma returned to Ethiopia shortly before the 30-year-long struggle for independence ended in 1991with Eritrean rebels defeating Ethiopian government forces.

When the military dictatorship was overthrown in 1991 by the present-day ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Lt. Girma embarked on several private business ventures. Before his first election as president, he was a stakeholder in several banks and an independent MP for a constituency in the western Shoa region.

Woldegiorgis Girma was relatively unknown abroad when the national parliament elected him by a unanimous vote as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in October 2001. He was re-elected for another six-year term last October.

"Instead of going in for a young man, they decided to elect me – an old man – again, obviously convinced that I do not do any harm to anyone," the Ethiopian president, now 84, told IPS.

That the President does "no harm" is ensured by the country's Constitution. The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power. The president is not affiliated with any political party.

But inevitably, his long tenure means he has been associated also with all perceived harm done by the governments he worked in, not least the Ethiopian presence in Eritrea, where he was directly responsible.

And that continues up to the present day. It was only last week that the Ethiopian government released two anti-poverty campaigners Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, both members of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). They had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, and were released just a month ahead of the due release date in May of this year.

Daniel and Netsanet were the last two remaining detained in the high profile treason trial that originally charged 131 journalists, politicians and civil society leaders on a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the May 15, 2005 parliamentary elections.

But some of the perceived harm and good done in Ethiopia arises also from ethnic perceptions. Woldegiorgis Girma belongs to the majority Oromo ethnic group which comprises more than 32 percent of Ethiopia's nearly 80 million people. Many believe that by electing him president the ethnic Tigrayan-led government appeased the Oromo population.

Whatever the veracity of that view, President Girma does not believe in the domination of one ethnic group by another. "It is important that each ethnic group has a genuine feeling of participation in governance issues," he told IPS in an interview during an official visit to Berlin.

The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has indeed been promoting a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities.

"This is underlined by the fact that Ethiopia today has nine semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues, use their language and develop their cultures," President Girma said.

He firmly believes that a participatory form of government is the best guarantee for social peace and political freedom, especially for countries in Africa where the boundaries were drawn to serve the interests of colonial powers.

Looking back on his days in Eritrea, President Girma hinted that the Eritrean people would probably not have set up a separate state if Emperor Haile Selassie had not annexed the province in 1962.

The annexation was widely viewed as retaliation for the increasing unrest and resistance in Eritrea against the federation with Ethiopia. The unrest was triggered by the fact that almost from the start of the federation, the Emperor's representative undercut the territory's autonomous status.

Eritrea had been an integral part of the proto-Ethiopian states for 2,000 years when it was conquered by Italy and formally consolidated into a colony by the Italian government on January 1, 1890. In the wake of Italy's losses in World War II, Eritrea was ruled as a United Nations protectorate between 1941 and 1952, administered by the British.

On Dec. 2, 1950 the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 A (V) to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia – but without taking into consideration the views of the Eritrean people. This was in contrast to the UN supervised referendum more than four decades later, in which the Eritreans overwhelmingly voted for independence from Ethiopia.

Maintaining peace with Eritrea continues to be a challenging task. But equally demanding is the pressing need to develop the Ethiopian economy, tackling HIV/AIDS, and caring for the growing number of elderly people, particularly among the poor.

Men and women above 65 years of age comprise some 2.7 percent of the population of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is a predominantly agricultural country with over 80 percent of its population farming on about 15 to 20 percent of the arable land. The agricultural sector accounts for over half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90 percent of export earnings, the most important of which is coffee.

Some of the finest and rarest coffees are grown in the highlands of Ethiopia, Africa's third largest producer of coffee, after Uganda and the Ivory Coast. In addition, Ethiopia has one of the largest livestock resources in the world.

But the country's agriculture is largely dependent on rainfall, and limited to the fertile highlands. Since 2004 liberalisation of the agricultural market and good rainfall have led to an increase in agricultural production. GDP has grown by an average of seven to eight percent a year. Yet it is estimated that every year between four and five million Ethiopians are confronted with under-nourishment.

According to independent sources such as the German Development Cooperation Ministry (BMZ), the legacy of the last war with Eritrea (1998-2000) and the disastrous drought in the north and east of the country in 2002 and 2003 have worsened the extreme poverty stalking the land.

The country's food situation is deemed to be the worst in the world. This is due also to the high rate of population growth, an extremely poor road network for goods transport, low yields in agriculture, the destruction of forests, and severe soil erosion on hillside farmland. The country's delight at better harvests since 2004 was offset in 2006 by the disastrous flooding in the south.

Newspaper reports in March this year said many parts of eastern and southern Ethiopia were experiencing severe drought after the rains failed last year. One of the worst hit regions is reported to be Borana, some 650 kilometres south of Addis Ababa in Oromia state, which neighbours Kenya.

"Drought and desertification, aggravated by climate change, indeed pose a major challenge to Ethiopia," according to President Girma who launched an environmental protection association called Lem Ethiopia, in 1991. "We are trying to tackle climate change both through measures aimed at mitigation and adaptation," he said.

The Ethiopian President is convinced that clean modern technologies can contribute "an immense lot" to sustainable development. He has great expectations of alternative energies harnessed from the sun and wind.

"I also think that bio-fuel has an important role to play in combating climate change. But of course we must maintain a balance between what we grow for bio-fuel and what we produce for food."

A lot more needs to be done in the health system, too. Not only because just one-fifth of all Ethiopians have access to safe drinking water, but also because of the pressing need to combat HIV/AIDS.

"The response to the AIDS epidemic remains a priority issue in our development agenda," the Ethiopian President said.

UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on AIDS, testifies that in the past two years, "strong leadership on the part of the (Ethiopian) Ministry of Health has resulted in visible strengthening of the response to AIDS, in particular within the health sector."

But it points out that special emphasis is required on strengthening the capacity of civil society. "This is a country with a very strong government and old administration where the space for civil society is not so easy, so we do everything we can to reinforce them and make sure that they are the beginning and the end of everything we do," UNAIDS country coordinator in Ethiopia, Roger Salla Ntounga, says in a report posted on the organisation's website.

President Girma pleads for adequate and increased aid by industrial nations in helping Ethiopia and other African countries stay on the development path without damaging the environment.

"There is no doubt that we have to invest on our own – as we are doing – but we need additional support from developed countries, both bilaterally and collectively," he said. The European Union (EU) countries play a critical role in this, he added.

"Europe should not underestimate the Chinese competition in Africa," said the Ethiopian President. But instead of censuring China it should act fast to maintain markets and good relations with Africa.

"Criticising the Chinese will not do any good. They (developed nations) have to help and compete qualitatively and quantitatively," he added.

According to reports, Ethiopia signed an accord with a Chinese company on Mar. 17 for construction of what is to be the first ever private industrial zone at a cost of five billion China Yuan Renminbi (about 500 million euro).

Ethiopia has also begun cooperation with China's Zhongxing Telecom Corporation (ZTE), authorised to develop the telecommunications market since September 2007.

Among international institutions, the World Bank is playing a critical role in helping Ethiopia fight poverty and improve the living standards for the people. This country is one of the largest beneficiaries of the World Bank's concessional lending programme, the International Development Association (IDA), with a portfolio of 24 active projects as of Dec. 30, 2007. These are worth over 2.3 billion dollars, of which 1.5 billion dollars is provided as credit and the remaining 800 million dollars as grant.

Two years ago, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved 100 percent cancellation of Ethiopia's debt to IDA, as part of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). A joint World Bank-IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), completed before approval of IDA's MDRI debt relief, concluded that Ethiopia's risk of debt distress was moderate. The Bank and Fund are in the process of preparing an updated DSA.

According to the World Bank, the Ethiopian government has developed a debt management strategy with a forward looking set of aid and debt management policies.